Love the Way You Lie
by Sonata Appassionata
Summary: Oh, she marvels, how beautifully he lies. Annabeth reflects on the boy she thought she knew as she holds up the sky.


**I know, I know. Who writes something remotely Lukabeth now? Forgive me then. This idea has been stuck in my mind for quite some time now, ever since I listened to the song. So please, give it a try, won't you? :)**

**Disclaimer: Characters belong to Rick Riordan. Lyrics belong to Eminem and Rihanna.**

* * *

_Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, but it's alright because I like the way it hurts_

_Just gonna stand there and hear me cry, but it's alright because I love the way you lie_

_I love the way you lie_

_"Love the Way You Lie", _Eminem ft. Rihanna

* * *

He stands before her, a blurred image swaying in and out of her vision as she is crushed from above, half-dead with pain. She catches a glint of his blonde hair, the teasing curve of his mirthless smirk. His eyes are so cold. His smile is so terrifyingly unfeeling, watching her suffer without so much as a wince.

She no longer recognizes him.

Her stomach clenches.

Once again, he has broken his promises. Once again, she has fallen for his charms and intoxicating lies. Once again, he has fooled her.

Because oh, she marvels. How beautifully he lies.

* * *

She is seven when he first makes her a promise he will never keep

* * *

"I won't let anything hurt you," he swears. His blue eyes sparkle like stars. "I won't fail you like our families failed us."

He gives her a marvelous bronze knife, and even tells her that she is clever.

He promises her a new family that will last for eternity.

She has run for days now, frightened and alone with nothing but her night clothes and a battered hammer. Monsters. There are so many of them. All of a sudden the world is filled with these vengeful creatures that want to tear her apart, and there is no one she can trust. She is cold, starved, and lonelier than she has ever been.

His words flow over her like sunshine. A family, she thinks. Love. Hope. Care.

It is all she ever wants.

Warmth fills her.

"Yes!" she cries, and throws herself into his arms. A surge of love for him courses through her.

She is drunk with happiness, a smile breaking across her face. At that moment, she no longer cares about monsters that might be hunting her. She does not care about how her father might have called the police about her disappearance. All she knows is the sweet heaven of his words, and the future they mean for her.

She trusts him.

(Because she does not know that, years to come, those pretty words will mean nothing more than heartbreak.

* * *

She is eleven when it happens again.

* * *

They are in the woods, and he is yelling at her.

"They let her die, Annabeth, and turned her into that… that _thing_! They never did anything for us. They left us like this while they sit all high and mighty on Olympus. Why should they get any glory? You're so stupid not to see it!"

His voice rises to a shout. She backs away. His words scare her. What does he mean about the gods? He has talked about this before, but never like this. And he has _never_ called her st-stu-_stupid!_ Fear and hurt bubbles inside her. He hasn't been right. All day he has been acting different, more agitated. She raises her hands desperately.

"Thalia wouldn't want –"

He rounds on her, pushing her up against a tree. His hands dig hard and painful into her shoulders. Bruises blossom beneath her skin. She cries out in pain, yet he holds her there, furious and frightening and _not himself_. His eyes smolder with pain and anger, his face twisted and contorted.

"You don't know a thing! What do you care about Thalia? I knew her long before you did! She is – was – brave and beautiful and –"his voice breaks slightly. "—She deserves to be honoured! Not turned into that _tree_ and cast aside! I've been having ideas. I'll make them pay."

With that, he lets go of her and storms of. She slides down onto the ground, shaking. Her shoulders are stiff and throbbing with pain. His accusations ring in her ears. _You're so stupid. You don't know a thing. What do you care about Thalia?_ She buries her head in her hands. Besides, what has gotten into him? He can't be serious about – _making the gods pay_? The thought of it chills her to the bone.

Later, he apologises. His eyes shining with regret, he rubs her shoulders and tells her that it will not happen again. He has simply lost control of himself. He will never hurt her again.

She believes every one of his words as he hugs her close. She _needs_ to. She leans against his chest and takes in the familiar smell of his shirt, hearing his sweet promises wash over her once more.

She pretends that what happened earlier never happened.

She loves him.

(Too much.)

* * *

She is twelve when he betrays her.

She stares into Percy's eyes, still terrified and so shocked. She feels her heart shatter. Luke has betrayed her. Luke has left her. Luke is gone.

Hollowness fills her, as though the world has been rearranged into something she cannot recognize. Tears run down her face. Nothing matters except _how can he do this?_ He _promised_. He _promised_ he will never leave. She loved him. She trusted him. She still does. Does that matter anything to him?

She thinks of his oaths and his charms, all broken like shards of glass on a dirty pavement.

_I won't let anything hurt you._

_I will never leave you. I promise._

_We'll be a family together, deal? Deal!_

All lies. Lies and lies and lies and empty charms that she so badly loved to hear and fell so hard for.

(Charms that she _will_, in fact, _still_ so badly fall for.)

* * *

So why should this be anything different? No, it shouldn't, except the terrible pain in his eyes that drives a dagger straight through her heart. His skin is a sickly grey. He kneels, crumpled and broken, arms violently trembling as he holds up the sky.

He calls for her.

He _needs_ her.

He needs _her_.

She runs to him without a second thought and _oh gods what have they done to him? Please, _she begs. She will do anything to save him. She will walk across hot coals for him. She will drink acid for him.

She will hold up the sky for him.

The weight slams down on her. She cried out, her legs crumpling. She is forced to her knees as Luke slowly gets up, free and no longer burdened. Her body screams in torment. Spots dance dizzyingly across her vision. Her arms shake, begging for her just to drop the crushing burden of the sky.

_Luke_, she sobs.

And then she sees him before her, catching his breath, a smug smile curling his lip. He is _happy_, she realizes. He is _pleased_ that it is her in pain, not him. He gets to his feet, simply watching, smiling, so unmoving, unfeeling as she struggles, sobbing. So much for the sincere pleas, the promise that she can help him and it'll be alright for both of them. It has just, in fact, been just another trick in his book to get her sympathy.

Something inside her breaks.

* * *

Once again, he has broken his promises. Once again, she has fallen for his charms and intoxicating lies. Once again, he has fooled her.

Because oh, she marvels. How beautifully he lies.

* * *

_I_ _love the way you lie..._

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